韩国和美国在华盛顿开设造船合作中心并签署15项MASGA相关MOU

An advance base has been established to carry out the $150 billion MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) project. The government will accelerate the MASGA project while also conducting a 120 billion won Korea-US joint research program in shipbuilding over five years.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it held the opening ceremony for the Korea-US Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC) at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the 23rd. About 130 officials from both governments, legislatures and companies attended the event, including Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The cooperation center is a nonprofit corporation established in the US under the "Korea-US Shipbuilding Cooperation Partnership Initiative" memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two countries' trade ministries in May. The center will operate cooperation programs including consulting for US shipyards, workforce training and information exchange. The program runs from this year through 2028, with a budget of about 20 billion won. The inaugural head of the center is former CEO Lee Jong-gun, who entered the civil service through the 26th administrative exam and handled US trade and resource investment at the ministry, and who previously served as executive director at Korea Investment & Securities and head of private equity at Barclays Korea.
In his welcoming remarks, Kim said, "The Korea-US Shipbuilding Partnership Center is an unprecedented cooperation platform in shipbuilding worldwide, and a symbol of Korea's firm will and commitment to help rebuild the US shipbuilding industry." He added, "Backed by the Korean government's support, the cooperation center will serve as a hub to help Korea's excellent shipbuilding technology take root across America's coastal belt." He continued, "We will also move quickly on shipbuilding cooperation investment reaching $150 billion," urging active support from the US side, including continued orders, incentives and deregulation for successful investment.
The two countries also signed a total of 15 cooperation MOUs on the day. They cover four areas: building Team Korea for the shared growth of the Korea-US shipbuilding industry, supply chain cooperation, workforce training and joint technology development.
Specifically, a total of five MOUs were signed in the supply chain cooperation area. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering agreed to jointly build and commercialize digital solutions in next-generation design and production with Siemens Industry Software of the US. Hanwha Ocean plans to cooperate with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to promote supply chain participation, while HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering plans to cooperate on modernization support for Fraser Industries of the US. HD Hyundai Samho signed a contract to supply four state-of-the-art port cranes to Washington United Terminals, which operates the Port of Tacoma in the US.
In addition, the Korean government will invest a total of 120 billion won over five years in the joint technology development area to conduct a Korea-US joint research program in shipbuilding. Sixteen companies and institutions will participate—seven from Korea and nine from the US—and the two countries plan to carry out eight tasks, including optimizing ship design, autonomous aluminum welding, automation of large block painting and autonomous navigation.
In the workforce training area, Hanwha Philly Shipyard agreed to build a pipeline connecting shipbuilding technology education support, on-site training for trainees and recruitment. Samsung Heavy Industries will jointly establish a workforce training center equipped with advanced education infrastructure, such as VR and AR welding training systems, with Vigor Marine Group of the US. Institutions including the cooperation center agreed to jointly develop internationally applicable technical qualification and certification programs with US classification society ABS.